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Mike Flynn & FBI Investigation: Bureau Had No Basis for It | National Review
ational Security Adviser Michael Flynn was dismissed amid a torrent of mainstream-media reporting and disgraceful government leaks (but I repeat myself). Among the most intriguing was a New York Times report the morning after Flynn’s resignation, explaining that the former three-star Army general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency was “grilled” by FBI agents “about a phone call he had had with Russia’s ambassador.” No fewer than seven veteran Times reporters contributed to the story, the Gray Lady having dedicated more resources to undermining the Trump administration than the Republican Congress has to advancing Trump’s agenda. Remarkably, none of the able journalists appears to have asked a screamingly obvious question — a question that would have been driving press coverage had an Obama administration operative been in the Bureau’s hot seat. On what basis was the FBI investigating General Flynn? To predicate an investigation under FBI guidelines, there must be good-faith suspicion that (a) a federal crime has been or is being committed, (b) there is a threat to American national security, or (c) there is an opportunity to collect foreign intelligence relevant to a priority established by the executive branch. These categories frequently overlap — e.g., a terrorist will typically commit several crimes in a plot that threatens national security, and when captured he will be a source of foreign intelligence. Categories (a) and (b) are self-explanatory. It is category (c), intelligence collection, that is most pertinent to our consideration of Flynn. At first blush, this category seems limitless: unmooring government investigators from the constraints that normally confine their intrusions on our liberty (e.g., snooping, search warrants, interrogations) to situations in which there is real reason to suspect unlawful or dangerous activity. Intelligence collection, after all, is just the gathering of information that can be refined into a reliable basis for decisions by policymakers. As we shall see, it is not limitless. But we should understand why it needs to be broad. Most people think of the FBI as a federal police department that does gumshoe detective work, albeit at a high level and with peerless forensic capabilities. That, indeed, is how I thought of the FBI for my first eight years as a federal prosecutor, before I began investigating terrorism cases and became acquainted with the FBI’s night job. Turns out the FBI’s house has a whole other wing, separate and apart from its criminal-investigation division. Back in pre-9/11 days, this side of the house was called the foreign counter-intelligence division. Now, it is the national-security branch. Whatever the name, it is our domestic security service, protecting the nation against hostile foreign activity — espionage, other hostile intelligence ops, terrorism, acquisition of technology and components of weapons of mass destruction, and so on. Most of the national-security branch’s work is done in secret, never intended to see the light of day in courtroom prosecutions. In some countries, including Britain, domestic security is handled by an agency (MI5) independent of domestic law enforcement (MI6). In our country, it is handled by a single agency, the FBI, based on the assumption (a sound one in my opinion) that the two missions are interrelated and that one can leverage the other more easily under one roof.
BREAKING: Source Of Trump Leaks Has Been Found, And It's Bad
Reported originally by GotNews, the primary source of the information leaks in the Trump administration is none other than #NeverTrump Republican Katie Walsh.
From GotNews: White House Deputy Chief of Staff and #NeverTrump Republican Katie Walsh has been identified as the source behind a bunch of leaks from the Trump administration to The New York Times and other media outlets, according to multiple sources in the White House, media, donor community, and pro-Trump 501(c)4 political group. “Everyone knows not to talk to her in the White House unless you want to see it in the press,” says a source close to the president. “The only question is whether or not she’s doing it at the behest of [White House Chief of Staff] Reince Priebus or if she’s doing it to advance herself in DC media circles.” One source in particular stands out: Walsh is close to Maggie Habberman, a New York Times reporter who wrote fawning pro-Republican National Committee stories during the presidential election. Walsh has also planted stories in The Washington Post and Politico. Walsh is referred to as “Madame President” in the White House, says a senior aide. “It isn’t a compliment.” Walsh would have significant access as she controls the president’s schedule. There’s also reportedly a trove of e-mails where Katie Walsh and Reince Priebus discuss how to rid themselves of Trump, according to a former #NeverTrump consultant. “The president and his allies have been deliberately feeding her fake information in order to find her network,” says a source close to the president’s family. “It’s been going well.” Walsh was a #NeverTrump Republican during the campaign. Neither Walsh nor her family were supporters during the campaign, says a source from Walsh’s hometown of St. Louis. A White House investigation is planned into Walsh, who couldn’t be reached for comment.
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201702201050863922-lavrov-kislyak-flynn-conversation/
The US security services are monitoring conversations of Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Michael Flynn
announced his decision to resign on February 14 amid a growing controversy surrounding his conversation with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak before Trump's inauguration. In his resignation letter, Flynn noted he had not given Vice President Mike Pence complete information about his conversations with Kislyak.
"In relation to the scandal that was built up regarding Flynn, who only worked as Trump’s adviser for several weeks, the US security services told reporters absolutely officially, albeit anonymously, that for example communications, as they said, of our ambassador Kislyak are being routinely monitored," Lavrov told a press conference.
Flynn’s phone talks with Kislyak have raised questions about whether the he broke a law forbidding private US citizens from engaging with foreign nations about diplomatic disputes. Retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr.
has been named acting US national security adviser following Flynn's resignation.
Earlier in Febrary, Lavrov spoke of ongoing
attempts to recruit Russian diplomats abroad.